Uni staff union flags industrial complaint

University of Tasmania staff are threatening to lodge a Fair Work Australia complaint over concerns academics are working long hours without pay.

The National Tertiary Education Union says the university has failed to implement a workload model agreed to last April, defining how long staff should research, teach and undertake administrative duties each year.

State Secretary John Kenny is blaming the delay on cost-saving measures.

"Many of the academic staff are subsidising the university to the point of about 50 per cent of what they should be doing and they're getting no compensation for it."

He says it is a major problem for staff, with semester starting on Monday.

"Therefore have no really clear idea of the hours of work that they're undertaking," he said.

The union is now in a dispute resolution process but expects to lodge a complaint with Fair Work Australia.